DETROIT *LIONS VS. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS POST-GAME QUOTES 12/14/08 *
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HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLI (opening remarks) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"I had two injuries, (S) Dwight Smith looks like a fracture of his ankle and he'll be out. (CB) Keith Smith reinjured his groin and it popped so we'll have to wait and see in a couple days. Just a little review myself, some key things that we missed, penalties, that personal foul gave them the third down – that's like a turnover with that offense. Just some errors, mental errors, third downs, we were 6 for 12 defensively and we've got to be better than that against that offense and in the red zone. Offensively, we did some good things; we got the ball to (WR) Calvin [Johnson] better. I thought we showed some good effort in our offensive tackles, and I just take my hats off to them."
HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLI (on the play of the defense) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"I thought we played hard on defense. You could see that in the time of possession. I'll see more on tape."
HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLI (on the personal foul call) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"I don't know. I'll have to see it on tape. That's what they called. I'll have to see it on tape."
HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLI (on the Colts getting the ball to TE-Dallas Clark) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"They saw a weakness and took advantage – 18 (Colts QB-Peyton Manning) is smart."
HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLI (on what they will do differently this week due to pressures of preventing going 0-16) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"The only pressure there is comes from you all [media] not from me. We work each day to improve and go to work to try to win."
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QB-DAN ORLOVSKY (on losing the game) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"It sucks. As politically correct and as bluntly as I can say, it sucks. It's hard to swallow. Getting close and coming close is stupid. Yeah we played great and we did a lot of good things, but we lost. Hats off to them, they made some plays in the fourth quarter. To fight back the way we did and have the emotional ride the way we did and to not finish it off is a telltale story of the season and it's frustrating. It sucks. It's not fun."
QB-DAN ORLOVSKY (on if he will start next week) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"That's next week. I didn't play well enough to win and that's what I want to measure myself by and that's what we are measured by. Coach will make his decision. I'll prepare the same way. I can't say this enough, I love playing with the guys on this team. I do, and I just didn't do enough in my position today to win the game so next week will take care of itself."
QB-DAN ORLOVSKY (on throwing so much to WR-Calvin Johnson) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"Going into this week, just watching film and watching what they do, I had a really good game plan in my head watching film this week I kind of saw who I wanted to attack and who I wanted to kind of use. My goal was to have no sacks and get the ball to Calvin 12 times. I think he had nine or 10. In the third quarter I wanted to continue to work my game plan of what I thought was going to be best for us and it got us back in the game, and that's not me doing anything. I just really wanted to get Calvin the football and you can't point to a point this year where we have gotten him the football and he hasn't responded. That's my game plan, but also not being so focused on him that you make stupid decisions."
RB-KEVIN SMITH (on if the closeness of the game was any consolation) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"Yeah, we fought. We took it to round 12. All 14 (games) have been a nightmare for me. All these teams, Carolina, Indianapolis, we had a chance to win. That's what the good teams do. In crunch time, they find a way to pull it off. We should have at least taken us to overtime."
OT-JEFF BACKUS (on being encouraged by playing the Colts so close) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"I think the one thing that you can count on is that the guys that are here are going to give you the effort. They are going to do everything that they possibly can do to do their job. We can't shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties and negative plays. We have to be consistent both offensively and defensively, week in and week out, series to series. Until we clean up some of our mistakes and play at a consistent high level, this is what we are going to be dealing with"
OT-JEFF BACKUS (on kicking two field goals after the two fumbles by the Colts on punt returns) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"We have to score touchdowns. We had that problem last week too. We had opportunities and we just didn't take advantage of them. We walked away with three points which isn't nothing, but we want those seven especially against a team that has a Peyton Manning at quarterback."
DE-DEWAYNE WHITE (on the results of the game) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"Just need to keep fighting. We made a lot of mistakes. We just have to get better. The (2nd quarter) penalty was big. It was a third down and we should have got off of the field. That set the team back and then they went down the field and scored. They are a great team and we brought it down to the wire. We just have to finish."
DE-DEWAYNE WHITE (on the personal foul penalty) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"I felt like they were jumping. I was defending myself and I pushed his head down. As his head went down, his helmet came off. I walked off and didn't even know it was a penalty. It is what it is. It fell off, it wasn't thrown off. It rolled off of his head."
K-JASON HANSON (on setting the NFL record for career 50 -yard field goals) Colts vs. Lions Post-Game Quotes 12/14/08
"We played better today. You know it makes it a little tougher because you're there. But it is a great team. Yeah, you know, it's bittersweet to set marks and then you lose again."